


Breathe Again

by Alyce013



Category: Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Blind Date, F/M, M/M, Moving On, Short & Sweet
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-05-03
Updated: 2020-05-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 19:41:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,498
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23982511
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Alyce013/pseuds/Alyce013
Summary: Wonho gets pressured into a blind date by his best friend Jooheon.
Relationships: Lee Hoseok | Wonho/Original Character(s), Lee Hoseok | Wonho/Original Female Character(s)
Comments: 2
Kudos: 5





	Breathe Again

"There's no way. I'm busy." Wonho whined into the phone as he worked on the paperwork in front of him.

"You're always busy." Came the annoyed reply.

"Which is why I'm saying no."

"Is that your final answer?"

"Jooheon! I'm in the middle of paperwork right now, so if that's all..." Wonho trailed off as he rolled his eyes at the ridiculous question.

"You owe me, Wonho." Jooheon spoke right before Wonho could end the call.

"You're really cashing in your one favor for me to go on a blind date?"

"Yes, because I miss my best friend. You've been throwing yourself into work and avoiding not just me, but all of us ever since you broke up with him."

"Don't." Wonho's hands stilled over the paperwork starting to shake a little. He didn't want to talk about it. He never wanted to talk about it.

"Its been almost a year, Wonho. It's time to move on." Jooheon's voice was surprisingly stern saying the words he knew would upset his best friend.

"Ugh! It's your favor...if you want to waste it, th-"

"Awesome! You're the best! I'll text you the details." Jooheon cut Wonho off before he could change his mind or talk his way out of it, and promptly hung up. Wonho looked down at his phone with a shocked expression before shaking his head and slipping it back in his pocket.  
Jooheon was right. He had been throwing himself into work since the break up, but it was the only thing that kept him from completely breaking down. Wonho hated being single. He felt so alone and his apartment felt so empty and cold. Unfortunately, going out on a date still felt like he was cheating on his ex.  
Wonho's phone vibrated as he received the details for the date. He decided to ignore it for now and continued to work on the paperwork. For the first time in a long time he just wanted to go home. He felt so anxious and tired at the same time. A couple of his coworkers walked by saying their farewells on their way out. They were used to Wonho being the last one there by now, so no one offered to help. He sighed, starting to work just a little faster so he could leave quicker.  
He kept the radio off in his car on the way back to his apartment even though he was dreading the silence that awaited him when he got home. He instantly missed the hustle and bustle of being at work. His thoughts turned into wishing he had stayed and pulled a double as soon as he pulled into his parking spot.  
Wonho dropped his keys on the table near the door, and finally pulled his phone out. Jooheon had scheduled the blind date for tomorrow, probably to make sure there was no way Wonho could back out. His best friend was the only one who knew tomorrow was one of his rare days off, annoyingly enforced by his boss. Wonho shook his head and smiled fondly, remembering how much his best friend had nursed him through after the break up even though most of the time Wonho had protested.

"Maybe I should just get a cat." Wonho spoke into the silence. It seemed like a better decision than allowing his heart to be broken again. He thought about trying to cancel for a moment, but Jooheon had only given him a place and time. He knew he really had to do this favor for his best friend, and backing out would be unacceptable.  
Nervousness set in as Wonho started on his nighttime routine. His thoughts raced as he showered, imagining every best and worst possible scenario. He tried to push the thoughts away multiple times, but always ended up drifting right back. It was distracting him so much he couldn't enjoy the tv show he was currently in the middle of, making him rewind more than once. He ended up turning it off and resigning himself to try and sleep, but the 'what ifs' flowing through his head caused him to toss and turn. He finally fell into a restless sleep only to wake up tired and now dreading the blind date even more.  
His nervous energy pushed him into deep cleaning his apartment while a playlist of his favorite songs played in the background to help try to calm him. Time flowed past way too quickly for Wonho's liking and soon he barely had time to shower before leaving for the date. He had thrown on a white henley shirt and light wash blue jeans.   
He ended up being late. The cafe wasn't too far, it was just once there Wonho just sat in his car for a few minutes debating on going in or just calling Jooheon and begging him to get him out of this. In the end Wonho got out of the car, because he wasn't about to rudely stand his date up. He entered the cafe and looked around for a person with their keys on the table.

"Are you Wonho?" A sweet sounding voice asked from a nearby table.

"Are you my blind...date?" Wonho paused in shock for a moment midsentence when he saw the woman sitting at the table. She was really pretty with her shoulder length golden brown hair and chocolate brown eyes. He couldn't understand how Jooheon thought he was worth any of this woman's time.

"I'm Hana, one of Jooheon's friends." She stood up and smoothed out the nonexistent wrinkles in her oversized cream colored sweater, and ripped jeans. Her sweater fashionably showed off one of her shoulders and she had swept all her hair over to her covered shoulder.

"Nice to meet you. I didn't keep you waiting too long did I?"

"Not too long. Jooheon warned me you'd be a bit hesitant, so I tried to keep my expectations low." Hana's words stung even though Wonho knew she was right. He was really starting to hate himself for wasting her time. 

"Right... well, I'm sorry I'm late. Did you order already?"

"No, I was going to give you five more minutes so we could order together. It's my first time here and Jooheon said you like to come here often. I figured I'd get your opinion on what's good." Hana smiled at him politely as she spoke, but he could tell from her eyes she was just being polite.  
Wonho led her up to the counter as they talked politely about what was good and each others food preferences. He couldn't help but get lost in thoughts of how and why he even let Jooheon talk him into this while politely continuing a bare minimum conversation. He really couldn't understand how Jooheon thought she would even be a little interested in Wonho. He had so much baggage from his last relationship he couldn't honestly a catch for anyone.

"Hey, Wonho?" Hana waved her hand in front of his face.

"Yeah." He quickly responded realizing he'd zoned out.

"Um...the food and drinks are here." Hana looked at him as if she couldn't wait to escape from this date. He couldn't blame her.

"Oh. Sorry. I'm just still a little tired from work yesterday." Wonho said trying to excuse his behavior.

"That's rough. What do you do?"

"I'm a nurse. I pulled a double shift yesterday." Wonho felt grateful she seemed to accept his explanation and started to look less bored.

"A nurse? That's so interesting. Do you have a super heavy workload right now that's causing you to work so long?" Hana politely tried to start conversation once again.

"Not as interesting as you'd think. I've just been picking up some shifts from my coworkers who needed the time off." Wonho realized the moment he looked at her after settling in at their table he had messed up. "Uh...what do you do?"

"Well, I'm-"

"WOW! SERIOUSLY!?" A loud, angry sounding voice rang out across the cafe cutting Hana off. Wonho's whole body went on high alert the moment he heard it and recognized it. His eyes widened in shock as his eyes connected with his ex boyfriend. The man stomped over to their table.

"Calm down." Wonho used a soft voice, trying to defuse the anger in his ex boyfriend's eyes.

"Calm down?! You're telling me to calm down while you're sitting here on a date?!" Everyone was staring at them now.

"Can we please not do this here." Wonho stood up and tried to grab hold of his ex, but the man jerked away from him.

"No! Don't touch me! Explain! THIS!" Wonho looked over at Hana's shocked and confused expression before looking angrily back at his ex. This wasn't Hana's fault and there was no reason he should be embarrassing them and making this big of a scene.

"I don't have to explain anything to you. We broke up almost a year ago. I'm allowed to move on." As he spoke the words out loud Wonho finally realized exactly what Jooheon had been trying to do for so long. He needed to move on. He needed to finally push his ex away.

"What?!" The question was less angry and more genuinely shocked.

"You heard me. We broke up for a reason and its just as valid now as it was then. So,...I don't know...maybe move on and get over it." Wonho looked back at Hana and took one of her hands. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

Wonho pulled Hana out of the cafe quickly while his ex couldn't do anything but watch them in shock. Wonho let go of Hana's hand as soon as they were outside, and they walked side by side to their cars in deafaning silence.

"I'm so sorry about that, but you and I both know this date was off to a bad start anyway. You're really pretty and you seem very nice, and all I can offer you is baggage. If you want to call this off I won't blame you, all I ask is that you don't tell Jooheon. Just tell him we had a nice time and you just weren't interested." Wonho sighed heavily, finally breaking the silence.

"Is?" Hana sighed as her expression softened. "Is this your first date since your break up?"

"Yeah." He hesitated a bit before it forced its way out.

"Everyone has baggage, Wonho. Crazy exes? I know about that. Dating is hard. At first I honestly thought you were one of those guys who plays uninterested to make a girl beg for your attention." Hana genuinely smiled for the first time on their date.

"No." Wonho laughed. "I was just...not ready for this. I was pushed into it."

"Oh God." Hana started laughing with him. As they laughed, all the tension that had hung over them since the beginning of the date melted away.

"Do you want to just go for a walk?" Wonho asked when the both had sighed off the laughter and sat there for a moment looking at each other.

"That sounds perfect. Han river is close." The two of them exchanged smiles and started their walk towards the river.

"So...he was..." Hana started up conversation as they arrived on a walking trail, slightly emphasizing the word he.

"Shrill? Crazy? Super possessive? A man? Cause all those words really fit him." Wonho offered as he scoffed at the new memory.

"I was going to say intense to be polite, but yeah. You're bisexual then?" A small laugh accompanied Hana's words.

"Yeah, I'm not attracted to a specific gender. I'm attracted more to personality. He was different in the beginning. People change and not always for the better. Maybe it was me and maybe it was him, but in the end..." Wonho trailed off looking sadly at the ground.

"You don't have to talk about it. I get it. Love isn't always what we see in the movies or read in books. It can be toxic and hurtful. I've never had an ex react like that though."

"It's OK. I want to talk about, or need to maybe, now. Hearing it out loud is weirdly healing. I truly loved him. It broke my heart having to break up with him, but the bad was out weighing the good. I can see now how much I blamed myself and tried to put him on some pedestal as if I was the villain."

"Sometimes holding on does more damage than letting go. It's something I've also had to learn."

"That sounds so profound. Where'd you get that?"

"Scrolling on social media looking at sad quotes while eating ice cream and ugly crying after a break up." Hana admitted deadpan which caused both of them to double over in laughter.   
They continued walking once they collected themselves, talking and laughing as they walked along the river. Wonho felt like a huge load had been lifted off his shoulders. He could feel his phone vibrating a few times in his pocket during the walk, but completely ignored it every time. He was enjoying the night for the first time in such a long time. It was a very welcome change from the mind-numbing work, binging shows, and sleep cycle he had been in for so long. He once again felt like he was finally able to breathe.

"Thank you." Wonho knew he'd interrupted Hana, but he couldn't hold it in any longer.

"For what?" She asked looking slightly confused.

"Being a decent, kind and super understanding human being and giving me this well needed, amazing night. Even though at first I was forced into meeting you."

"Hey, I'm glad I could help. Is it about that time? Do you work tomorrow?"

"Yeah. I'm covering a shift." Wonho sighed.

"Well, text me. I'll get you through it. You gonna cut back on doing that soon though?" Hana offered her phone to him to put his number in.

"I will definitely text you...and cut back on covering shifts. I want to try this happiness thing again." Wonho entered his number handing her back her phone.

"You deseve happiness. I had fun. I mean the beginning was horrible, but I've never felt like I could be myself more than during this entire walk." Hana fiddled with her phone, obviously not wanting the night to end. The two of them had arrived back at the parking lot.

"I feel the same. Jooheon is gonna be so smug." Wonho sighed at his last sentence.

"So smug." Hana fiddled a bit with her keys as she chuckled in agreement.

"Text me when you get home safe." Wonho kissed her forehead gently before reluctantly tearing himself away. He looked back after he got into his car to see her blushing and grinning like crazy before quickly getting in her car and leaving too. Wonho got the feeling this was the beginning of something great.


End file.
